Tech Secretary Liz Kendall has insisted that she is still considering whether to implement a blanket ban on social media for under-16s. Despite reporting that Starmer had gone off the idea thanks in part to his own kids’ opposition…
Kendall told Sky News: “The final final decision hasn’t been taken but a ban is on the table… I’ve already said that many times.”
She said reporting to the contrary was wrong. The government is yet to respond in full to the consultation on a social media ban and is still weighing up its options. Rival Team Burnham wants to go even further to regulate algorithms themselves…
Labour Deputy Leader Lucy “oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we” Powell has proposed the state takes control of social media algorithms. This is one of the people running Burnham’s journey to No10…
Powell said in comments over the weekend:
“It’s not just a young person’s problem. The echo chambers, the rabbit holes that people can go down and you get that on the doorstep, suddenly there can be something that comes up on the doorstep quite a lot and you’re like, where the hell’s that come from? It’s not in the mainstream media at all. And it’s gone absolutely viral on social media….
We need to do more to regulate the algorithms and what drives contention and controversy and the business models of big, big tech as well. And we need to look at where politics and how politics is funded from abroad and from wealthy individuals and things like that and the power that that can bring you in the kind of social media age.”
The Burnham organiser claimed Reform uses “exploitation of online algorithms on social media sites” as well as “bots and troll farms to amplify support.” Unhappy about your low viewer counts, Lucy?
The Online Safety Act currently puts legal duties on platforms to manage to manage illegal content, which includes through algorithms. If enacted, Powell’s proposals could revive a push to force controls on “legal but harmful” content which includes “viral misinformation” according to the Deputy Leader. In practice the government could force “brakes” on social media algorithms for topics or during certain periods in order to suppress sharing of information. If you thought Keir Starmer was bad on social media controls…
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has suggested talking about increasing immigration “later” while he tries to convince Reform voters to back the Greens instead. Probably necessary, yes…
Speaking at the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union annual conference in Staffordshire, Polanski said “you don’t have to agree on everything” in reference to Reform voters, who he said must not be “lectured” to:
“Actually, what you can often, or I say from my point of view, agree with on a Reform vote when I speak to them is that there’s mass inequality in society. That the super rich are exploiting us and manipulating us. We can park a conversation about immigration till later. Let’s first of all make sure that we’re taxing the rich and we’re redistributing power and wealth and putting it back into our communities. So, I’m not naive about the challenge there is to win so many people back who have gone over to Reform or are thinking about going over to Reform.”
This was after Zack claimed “we’re a country that has largely or often built off the back of immigration… sometimes the tensions between different communities, once we’ve found a way to resolve that, has resulted in some of the best things about our society.” He added that there is no reason the government should prevent anyone at all from immigrating:
“We should welcome people here, particularly if they’re fleeing war or persecution, because of our common humanity. Because I don’t believe that your right to live or your right to be treated as a human being should be dictated by the place you happen to be born in by pure luck or chance.”
Green Party’s internal analysis of its immigration policy predicts that five million may arrive per year as a result. Park that, says Zack…
Every month, we publish the power rankings of all the leading lights in Reform based on our readers’ responses. Click here to fill in the survey, and the results will be published at the end of the month. Here’s how last month played out…
We’re offering £10 off your Guido membership once you complete it. If you’re not a Guido member yet, that’s a whole month as a Co-Conspirator for free. You’ll get instant access to all our exclusive content, including Labour Wars and The Right Angle…
According to Michael Crick 30 July is the date planned for a Greater Manchester mayoral election in the case of a Burnham victory in Makerfield. Which looks likely…
According to the rules the election would have to be held by 6 August. Would Andy campaign? Or would he be too busy unseating Starmer…
Labour is also in a rush to implement a Supplementary Vote system in Manchester to replace First Past The Post. Under SV the top two candidates go into a run-off second round if there is no candidate above 50%. The legislation is not in place yet…
Lucy Powell told Sky News that the Ed Miliband-Russell Brand interview happened in part because the ‘social media age’ had not begun by 2015:
“Look, I mean, he approached the Labour Party, he approached the campaign team, and we’re in very different times now. We weren’t in the social media age at the time – where you could maybe search things up and see allegations about somebody at the time. and as I say, if there was any suggestion at all, we were dealing with someone who was a known sexual predator at the time, then, of course, you know, no one would have done that. But as I say, he was a well known public figure. Lots of people from Hollywood to the BBC to many others gave this person a very, very powerful platform. And we didn’t know at the time, unfortunately. It was a different era.”